The Joan Crawford Awards collection held at the Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections Department contains twenty-four awards from theatre, community, and business groups, given to Crawford between 1948 and 1965. The collection was donated to Brandeis in three gifts during Crawford’s lifetime (1966, 1968, and 1973)....Crawford came to Brandeis in the 1960s in support of the arts program. The Joan Crawford Dance Studio was dedicated within the Spingold Theater Arts Center in 1965, to foster dance education at the university. The awards in this collection were put on display in the studio. In the late 1960s, Crawford was elected as a Brandeis University Fellow. A letter of invitation to her induction dinner states that Crawford was elected as a Brandeis Fellow “given her interest, time and service to a host of civic and philanthropic causes which has endeared her to a large public that goes well beyond
the pale of the entertainment industry.”...The eclectic awards represented in this collection illuminate an aspect of Joan Crawford’s work that is often eclipsed by her acting career and her complicated personal legacy.

"The First Tap Shoe to Feel the Touch of 'Our Dancing Lady,'" undated.

F.R.C.F.C., c.
1950

5-Year Laurel Award for a "Topliner Dramatic Role"

for her performance in Sudden Fear. This Exhibitor Award is the

"official certification" that "carries with it the appreciation of the

Theatre Industry for a job well done," 1948-1953.

Laurel Award in 1952 for her performance in Sudden Fear.

1953-54
Laurel Award for a "Topliner Musical Role" in Torch Song.

Photoplay Magazine Award for her performance in TheDamned Don't Cry.

This award honors Crawford for giving "one of America's five most popular

performances by a motion picture actress," 1950.

Photoplay Magazine Award
for Sudden Fear for
giving "one of America's five most popular performances
by a motion picture actress," 1952.

Fur Fashion Woman of the Year by the Master Furriers Guild of America
"in recognition of her contribution to fashions in furs
throughout her screen career," 1954.

The first Golden Shutter Award presented at Universal-International Studios
on January 31, 1955, by the Los Angeles Press Photographers Association. The award named Crawford as "the ideal photographic subject, perfectly developed and always in focus."

The first annual award of merit by the National Association of Architectural Metal Manufacturers for Crawford's "outstanding contributions to the Motion Picture Industry." Award
presented

April 26, 1963, at the Hotel Del Coronado.

Community
Awards

Award for supporting the Texas Theatres Crippled

Children's Fund, presented on November 5, 1952, by the Gonzales Warm Springs Foundation,
in association with

The Honorary Hoosier Award from
the Indiana Pepsi-Cola Bottlers Association on January 8, 1964,
presented "in recognition of her distinguished contributions to the arts and the business world and for her great devotion to humanitarian causes."

USO Woman
of the Year medal presented by the

New York City USO Committee.
Joan was designated

as the first Woman of the Year in 1965 for her

accomplishments as an actress, executive, and humanitarian.

Heart of the World Award,
the second award presented to Joan by

California's City of Hope Hospital,
July 14, 1965.

Business
Awards

The Philadelphia Club of Advertising Women presented this award on March 22, 1963,

listing Joan's many talents and accomplishments, including the publication of her autobiography,